The Chinese government attached great importance to Sino-Russian relations and it was China's established guideline to strengthen the Sino-Russian strategic cooperative partnership, Chinese President Hu Jintao said?on Friday in Beijing.

Hu made the remarks while talking with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over phone Friday evening.

Putin praised the development of Russia-China ties and achievements, and briefed Hu on Russia's plan for high-level bilateral meetings next year.

The recent meeting on bilateral military technological cooperation held in Moscow decided some priority cooperative projects, and such a move would be of great significance for advancing the relations of the two countries, Putin said.

Hu agreed with the Russian plan on high-level meetings, saying that the two sides had strengthened mutual trust, economic and trade cooperation and international coordination, expressing the hope that the strategic cooperative partnership would continue to grow.

He noted that the recent meeting on military technological cooperation had summarized the progress of bilateral military cooperation.

As a cornerstone of the two countries' strategic cooperative partnership, military cooperation was conducive to foster international and regional peace and stability, Hu said.

The two presidents also exchanged views on the Iraq situation, the Korean nuclear issue and other issues of common concern.

(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2003)